The Geneva Centre to co-host panel
debate on enhancing equal citizenship rights in education
GENEVA,
4 May 2017 - The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue (“The Geneva Centre”) will
convene, in cooperation with the UNESCO Liaison Office in Geneva, the
International Bureau of Education (IBE) - UNESCO and the Permanent Mission of
the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations Office in Geneva, a panel
discussion aimed at reviewing the role of education in enhancing equality of
citizenship rights and diversity within communities affected by inter-communal
civil strife.
The panel discussion, entitled “Human rights: Enhancing equal
citizenship rights in education”, will
take place on Friday 12 May 2017, from 12:00 to 14:00, at the Palais des
Nations in Geneva (Room XII).
It will be organized at the sidelines of the 27th
session of the Universal Periodic Review under the Human Rights Council,
scheduled to take place from 1 to 12 May 2017.
The Chairman of the Geneva Centre’s Board of
Management, H. E. Dr. Hanif Al Qassim,
the Director of the UNESCO Liaison Office, Mr. Abdulaziz Almuazaini,
and the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United
Nations Office in Geneva, H. E. Ambassador Yusuf Abdulkarim Bucheeri, will deliver
inaugural addresses.
The panel will consist of experts with extensive
knowledge in the field of education, particularly in post-conflict situations
and reconciliation in community settings. The following panel members will
participate at the panel session:
- Dr. Fawzi Rahman Al Jowder, Acting Undersecretary for Education and Curricular Affairs at the Ministry of Education of the Kingdom of Bahrain;
- Dr. Ana Maria Velasquez, Associate Professor at Universidad de los Andes (Colombia);
- Prof. Sunethra Karunaratne, Former Professor at University of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka);
- Mr. Renato Opertti, Senior Programme Specialist at IBE-UNESCO;
- Prof. Osman El-Hajjé, Vice-President of Ius Primi Viri and President of the Human Rights Centre of Jinan University (Lebanon);
- Ms. Kristina Kaihari, Counsellor of Education - History and Citizenship Education at the National Agency of Education (Finland);
- Mrs. Samar Kildani, the National Director of the El Hassan Youth Award in Jordan, will be the discussant of the meeting.
The focus of the panel discussion will be on three
case studies - Bahrain, Colombia, and Sri Lanka - to assess their respective
attempts to promote equal citizenship rights as part of human rights education
in their national curricula.
The discussion will draw on the pilot expertise of Finland as a model of successful integration
of human rights and citizenship values within national curricula.
The purpose of the panel debate will be to analyse the
impact of training to promote equal citizenship as part of human rights
training in school curricula and teaching methodologies with the broader aim of
promoting a culture of peace and developing healthy, inclusive and fair
societies. It aims at broadening the discussion on human rights and global
citizenship education to encompass the promotion of equal and inclusive
citizenship rights through education within national societies. Enhancing equal
and inclusive citizenship rights fits against the backdrop of education on
human rights and global citizenship, echoing at the domestic level the same
ideals of a more tolerant, cohesive, and peace-driven world.
The Executive Director of the Geneva Centre Ambassador
Idriss Jazairy stated that the “panel
debate is a timely opportunity to discuss the role of education in promoting
and in enhancing at the domestic level equal and inclusive citizenship rights.
Education has the potential of playing an important role in strengthening
inter-ethnic and inter-religious cooperation in societies permeated by conflict
and violence. We need to further explore the transformative power of education
in building societies based on the principles of peace, tolerance and social
harmony.”
ENDS
About the Geneva Centre:
The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and
Global Dialogue (“The Geneva
Centre”) is a think-thank dedicated to the promotion of human
rights through cross-cultural, political, religious and civilizational
dialogue, and through training of the upcoming generations of
stakeholders in the Arab region.
We work towards a value-driven human rights system,
challenging politicisation and building bridges between different narratives
thereon of the Global North and of the Global South.
Please visit our website at http://www.gchragd.org/
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